Yahoo’s new board on Tuesday cleared the way for a fresh round of discussions with Time Warner over the future of its AOL unit, potentially reigniting negotiations for a combination of the two internet businesses that stalled earlier this year.

The green light for the talks came as Yahoo’s directors met for the first time since activist investor Carl Icahn was granted access to the boardroom. Mr Icahn and two allies, former Viacom boss Frank Biondi and former Nextel head Frank Chapple, were given seats at the board table as part of a settlement to head off a revolt at the internet company’s last shareholder meeting.